Beginning of the End | Laven

Catalyst

Stupid. I'm so fucking stupid. If I survive, I'm never going to be let on patrol again. Allen fell to his knees, one arm over the hole in his side. The other arm held up, creating a barrier between him and his assailants.

Allen couldn't believe he'd let these guys get him, on patrol no less. Natasha was going to put him through vigorous training. Steve was going to give him a lecture. Bruce would probably poke and prod him until he got better. Clint would prank him to no end. Tony would make his coat bulletproof. Oh god, Spike  would probably- Allen's thought were cut short when suddenly his shield flickered.

"Fuck." The portal gave way and his attackers immediately ran at him. Allen closed his eyes, willing the shadows to take him elsewhere. I don't want to die.

When Allen was released from the shadows, all he felt was cold. A numbing cold had spread across his body. He opened his eyes to see green. Two green eyes staring at him. Allen's eyes drifted up and he saw the red hair. He exhaled in relief. Lavi supported The Phantom, supported what he did and how he did it. Lavi wouldn't hurt him. Lavi wouldn't let him die. Die... I'm going to die. Too much blood. Can't go into shock. Can't.

"Phantom? Holy shit! Okay, shit. Are you okay? No you're not, you're bleeding. All right." The redhead stood up and grabbed his cell, presumably calling an ambulance. Allen quickly attempted to sit up. They don't like me, I can't go to a hospital.

"Wait." Allen flinched at the sound of his voice. The taste of blood filled his mouth, this isn't good. "D-don't. No hospitals."  So cliche.

"You're going to bleed out if I don't. I'm not letting someone die in front of me." Lavi was looking at him worriedly, he walked over to the younger teen and helped him stand. Lavi led him onto a chair and grabbed his phone again, looking through the contacts.

"No cops." Allen rasped out, coughing slightly.

"I'm not calling the cops, I'm calling a friend of mine. He's really good at first aid stuff and he'll probably be able to help you." Allen suddenly jumped for the phone, he knew that that 'friend' could only be him. Allen was the only one of them that passed their health class. He couldn't let Lavi know, not yet, not like this. Lavi pushed him down and attempted to grab his phone back.

"You're going to hurt yourself, my friend won't call the cops. I swear. Please, calm down!" Allen enveloped the phone with shadows. Once the shadows were gone, so was the phone. The redhead muttered in disbelief, something along the lines of: My grandpa is going to kill me. Allen smiled, albeit a grim smile, and closed his eyes. He felt so tired, keeping the shadows around him while injured was draining him of energy he could be using to stay coherent.

"H-hey! Hey! Come on, Phantom. Open your eyes!" Allen opened his eyes slightly looking his friend. Lavi looked so worried. He was such a nice guy, caring for someone who was hated through most of the city. It made Allen feel safe and warm. Wait, my arms are warm? Allen looked down to see shadows enveloping his arms. He was changing back into himself, Lavi was going to find out.

"No, no no no." Allen tried to leave but Lavi held him down, hands gripping his forearms, ignoring the shadows. Allen couldn't see as the shadows covered his eyes. So tired... Allen let his body fall. He still felt cold, he was thirsty too. He wanted to get up, but he couldn't find the strength.

"Oh my god. Allen?" The now white-haired teem felt a hand resting on his cheek. He could feel it trembling as it pressed against him. Allen was drifting, he was so tired. He could vaguely hear Lavi calling someone.

"-ike! It's Allen... bleeding... please... Phantom" Then it cut off, as though he had been wearing earbuds and the cords were ripped off and he could hear no more.

-

"...be fine. I promise you. Banner already stitched up the wound. He's not bleeding anymore, he'll be okay."

Allen woke to a dull ache in his side and several voices around him. He could pinpoint each of them. Steve and Tony were talking near the door about his costume. Natasha, Clint, and Bruce about his coming training. Spike had spoken before but was now silent. Allen was a bit confused, someone was holding his left hand but he definitely heard Spike at his right. He opened his eyes, grateful that they had been dimmed.

"You're awake." Lavi. Shit, I knew I forgot something. Allen looked at him apologetically, Lavi smiled at him and gently squeezed his hand. An unspoken 'We're going to talk about this.' made Allen nervous. The team had surrounded his bed, giving him just enough room so he wouldn't feel crowded. Allen sat up and propped himself on the pillows.

"All right. Run us through what happened, we'll talk about training when you're fully healed but for now..." Tony gestured towards Allen. The youngest sighed and told them how he'd been caught off guard during patrol. They spoke for a while, Allen hadn't been listening. He'd been to busy staring at his friend who seemed to be bothered by something. The team wished him well and left, promising to call in a while. Spike left the medical center muttering something about ordering takeout.

Lavi didn't seem to notice anything happening around him, he had stared at Allen's bandaged torso the entire time the team was there. Allen knew that he meant a lot to Lavi, they'd been best friends since the start of middle school.

Lavi suddenly stood, letting go of Allen's hand. He walked toward the door and grasped the handle but didn't turn it.

"You're The Phantom." He spoke steadily, turning around.

"Y-yeah." Allen looked at his lap, not wanting to look him in the eyes.

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

"I was planning on it..." Allen trailed off.

"You weren't going to tell me Allen. Don't lie." Lavi's voice was still calm and steady but his eyes betrayed him. They were full of anger. Anger, worry, and something else Allen wasn't sure of. Could it be... lo- No. That's stupid. There's no way.

Lavi walked over and sat next to Allen. He put his hand on Allen's cheek and dropped his head onto Allen's shoulder.

"I got so scared. You were bleeding so much. I thought I was going to lose my best friend." Lavi removed his hand from his cheek and wrapped it around Allen's neck, hugging him close. Allen didn't speak, he knew Lavi was worried. They stayed like that for a couple minutes before Lavi finally lifted his head and looked at the shorter teen in the eyes.

"All right. I've processed the fact that you're special. I'm okay with that. Is that why you didn't tell me?" Lavi looked so determined to find out why, Allen almost giggled. Instead Allen flinched slightly at the words.

Allen was afraid. Scratch that, Allen was horrified. He was scared of what Lavi and Hope's reactions were going to be. They were both great people, accepting and understanding. Everyone has their limits to what they can handle though.

"I guess I was scared."

"You don't have to be. I still love you Ally. Nothing has changed." Allen wrapped his arms around Lavi in a tight hug.

"Such a great hero I am, huh. Scared of talking to my friends." They laughed.

"Yeah, well hate to break it to you but heroes don't get stabbed by random muggers."

"This is New York! Everyone gets mugged, hero status or not."

Allen smiled to himself, he knew that things were only going to get better.